Jo Scott-Coehttp://joscottcoe.com
WriterTue, 10 Jun 2014 04:17:00 +0000http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.3hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.3WriterJo Scott-CoenoWriterJo Scott-Coehttp://joscottcoe.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpghttp://joscottcoe.com
My Writing Process These Dayshttp://joscottcoe.com/blog/2014/06/10/my-writing-process-these-days/
http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2014/06/10/my-writing-process-these-days/#commentsTue, 10 Jun 2014 04:17:00 +0000joscottcoehttp://joscottcoe.com/?p=526Posted in UncategorizedThanks to Joshunda Saunders for inviting me to participate in this blog tour! Joshunda is one of the most insightful and prolific writers I’ve had the good fortune to meet, read, and commiserate with in the past two years. You can check out her terrific blog, including her own reflections on process, right here. 1. […]

Thanks to Joshunda Saunders for inviting me to participate in this blog tour! Joshunda is one of the most insightful and prolific writers I’ve had the good fortune to meet, read, and commiserate with in the past two years. You can check out her terrific blog, including her own reflections on process, right here.

1. What are you working on?

Two and a half years ago, I started working on an an essay collection about public performances of violence in America. As I began, I thought that the section about the 1966 clock tower shooting at UT Austin would be the first chapter, alongside nine other chapters including San Diego, Waco, and Tucson. What I’ve discovered is that the UT Austin research and writing has demanded a space of its own. I’m almost finished with a stand-alone triptych about that event. It’s 12o pages or so: two lyric essays at beginning and end, with a centerpiece of narrative reportage/investigative journalism. I haven’t abandoned the larger project, but it was important to recognize and respect the full weight of the box inside the box.

2. How does your work differ from others’ work in the same genre?

I guess that I’m weary and wary of much of the nonfiction that I read. I don’t mean I’m concerned about bias or subjectivity (which I understand and also expect); but overall I find it disappointing how some genre notions that might be necessary for marketing purposes can narrow our aspirations as writers. I’m fascinated about the pre-genre possibilities of the essay form: how it can document and reflect, but also explore, evoke, and imagine. I’m starting to use the phrase “creative nonfiction” much less often these days. I guess I fundamentally reject the notion that nonfiction is somehow “naturally” uncreative or unmusical. Amazing essays cast a spell. And that spell can emerge from hours and hours of reading and study, all intersecting with the quirks and obsessions and truths of the author’s lived experience. When I read Richard Rodriguez’s essays–or John Edgar Wideman’s, or Jamacia Kincaid’s, or James Baldwin’s–I don’t think about whether they have enough quotes and statistics. I am fascinated, and unsettled, and stimulated to follow their minds at work. Likewise, I don’t envision my ideal readers finishing my book and saying, “Well, NOW I’m informed!” I hope instead that they don’t quite know what they know.

3. Why do you write what you do?

My first book, Teacher at Point Blank, explored the question: What don’t we talk about when we talk about violence in school? I was really interested in the impulse I observed (both as a student and a longtime teacher) to protect a kind of image of the “good” suburban school that reinforced a kind of Stepford pathology, often making horrifying events not only possible but probable.

My new work is really examining a related question: What don’t we talk about when we talk about mass violence in America? Last year, I published an essay in Salon about how many (though certainly not all) mass shooters begin by killing women. My point was that if these men had simply stopped with violence against women, we’d fold their stories into our collective denial about domestic violence and abuse. As with the violence in Santa Barbara just weeks ago–or the health club shooting outside Pittsburgh in 2009, or the Montréal shooting in 1989–sometimes there’s no subtlety about it. The horror here is social, not exclusively personal. My work is really struggling with that.

4. How does your writing process work?

I feel most of the time like I am foraging. I read and re-read: books already written on subjects I’m writing about, legal documents, primary sources from archives, magazines and newspapers for both facts as well as atmosphere. I interview people on the phone and through email. I double-back and retry search terms and re-read both source material and my own drafts almost to the point of memorization. I’ve started keeping file folders and binders in specific canvas bags along my office floor, which enables me to create a kind of geography in my creative workspace. It helps me feel grounded especially when material is upsetting and the scale is large. Visiting real places is also hugely important to me–a satellite photograph or a transcript is cool, but it can’t replace how a live experience in a real place changes my understanding.

I go through binges and cycles of generative writing, and I’m even learning to embrace time when I can’t concentrate directly on my work (because I’m teaching basic writing or helping keep RCC’s literary magazine on its feet). I find that I discover and actually “see” what I’m doing better after several weeks of semi-attentive percolation. I come back fresh–and also even hungrier.

]]>http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2014/06/10/my-writing-process-these-days/feed/0The Next Big Thinghttp://joscottcoe.com/blog/2013/02/27/the-next-big-thing/
http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2013/02/27/the-next-big-thing/#commentsWed, 27 Feb 2013 17:25:39 +0000joscottcoehttp://joscottcoe.com/?p=516Posted in buzz,writingThanks to Donna Hilbert author of the new poetry collection The Congress of Luminous Bodies (Aortic Books) for tagging me in THE NEXT BIG THING What is the title or working title of your book? Tripwires and Trigger Fingers. Where did the idea come from for the book? For my first book, Teacher at Point […]

Thanks to Donna Hilbert author of the new poetry collection The Congress of Luminous Bodies (Aortic Books) for tagging me in THE NEXT BIG THING

What is the title or working title of your book?

Tripwires and Trigger Fingers.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

For my first book, Teacher at Point Blank, I explored about how we can work and live under bizarre, unhealthy conditions that encourage a certain amount of denial. As I was waiting for the book to be published, I had to keep revising the last chapter because it began with a litany of rampage shootings at schools, and for about five years I had to keep adding names and dates to the list. It was a hideous feeling. It’s still true that every time a drastic event happens, we tend to treat it like something from Mars. But there I was, facing that list in my book. I wanted to examine that phenomenon of denial on a larger American scale, connecting different public performances of “mass violence” we have buried or forgotten about–starting with UT Austin in 1966.

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a collection of essay meditations—lyric as well as narrative. My inspirations are Sei Shonagon, Jamacia Kincaid, Susan Griffin, and Nathanael West.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Oh dear. Because this collection will deal with ten distinct events, we might need ten casts. I’d be happy if Helen Mirren just played me lurking around archives and trying to get people to share info in email or on the phone, doing Freedom of Information requests, and taking road trips to places like Moses Lake and Tucson, or Austin and Olivehurst.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

What don’t we talk about when we talk about mass killings?

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I’m halfway there, have about two years left. Much of this work involves site visits when I can afford it (and in those windows when I’m not teaching) as well as deep study of artifacts and historical context. I’m an associative writer—so I gather a great deal together for constant percolation as I write through the material.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

It interests me that exposés about public crimes often take a kind of conventional view—aspiring to a sense of “pure” chronology that assumes all of the messy bits can be stripped clean from a sad or tragic story in order to separate Them from Us. I want to know about the messy bits, the loose ends, the odd juxtapositions. The traditional framing for stories of violence has traditionally reflected a self-image right back at readers—and avoided deeper, more challenging questions about ourselves.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Princess Diana makes an appearance.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-publication, no. I am currently looking at different possibilities, including a Los Angeles publisher who is doing amazing work: Writ Large Press.

My tagged writers for next Wednesday, March 6, THE NEXT BIG THING are: Joshunda Sanders, Ruben Quesada, and Lloyd Aquino.

]]>http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2013/02/27/the-next-big-thing/feed/0Writer Ninja Podcast Episode 8: Starting from Scratchhttp://joscottcoe.com/blog/2013/02/10/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-8-starting-from-scratch/
http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2013/02/10/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-8-starting-from-scratch/#commentsSun, 10 Feb 2013 19:54:03 +0000joscottcoehttp://joscottcoe.com/?p=504Posted in buzz,podcastWhat have you made from scratch lately–whether it’s something to eat, wear, use at home, or give away? We may live in a world that often feels prefabbed, but there are plenty of opportunities for us to contribute pieces of ourselves to make things better or more interesting. Tune in to the Writer Ninja Podcast, […]

What have you made from scratch lately–whether it’s something to eat, wear, use at home, or give away? We may live in a world that often feels prefabbed, but there are plenty of opportunities for us to contribute pieces of ourselves to make things better or more interesting. Tune in to the Writer Ninja Podcast, available on iTunes and on this site. Then post your ideas in the comments section below!

Also listen to Jo’s interview with four smart writer-editor-artist people–John Brantingham, Ann Brantingham, Elder Zamora, and Scott Creley–who came together to organize The San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival from the ground up.

Then join Jo at the festival as she reads among an amazing lineup of poets, novelists, and nonfiction writers–including James Brown, Aimee Bender, Eloise Klein Healey, Donna Hilbert and Stephanie Hammer: February 15-17, from noon to 9 PM in the West Covina Civic Center, 1444 West Garvey Avenue, West Covina, 91791. All events are FREE.

You may have missed Stephanie Barbé Hammer’s fabulous reading from Sex with Buildings (Dancing Girl Press) at Riverside Arts Walk September 6, but it’s never too late to visit her website, Magically Real.

Also catch our chat about genre bending and blending on the latest Writer Ninja Podcast, available on iTunes and on this site.

]]>http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2012/01/18/book-recommendations-writer-ninja-ep-4-and-5/feed/0Writer Ninja Podcast Episode Fivehttp://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/12/31/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-five/
http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/12/31/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-five/#commentsSat, 31 Dec 2011 20:52:16 +0000joscottcoehttp://joscottcoe.com/?p=466Posted in creative,podcastEpisode Five, “The Gift of Consent,” now available on iTunes and on this site. Jo asks for your thoughts on how important consent is to any authentic learning experience, both inside and outside traditional learning situations. She also interviews writer John Brantingham, author of East of Los Angeles (a poetry collection), and professor extraordinaire of […]

Episode Five, “The Gift of Consent,” now available on iTunes and on this site. Jo asks for your thoughts on how important consent is to any authentic learning experience, both inside and outside traditional learning situations. She also interviews writer John Brantingham, author of East of Los Angeles (a poetry collection), and professor extraordinaire of English and Creative Writing at Mount San Antonio College.

Recommended links for readings will appear shortly: Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott), You Already Know (Aaron Henne), and Building a Character (Constantin Stanislavski). Also check back for information on the Mount San Antonio Writers’ Weekend coming up soon!

]]>http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/12/31/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-five/feed/0Writer Ninja Podcast Episode Fourhttp://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/11/20/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-four/
http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/11/20/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-four/#commentsSun, 20 Nov 2011 17:29:31 +0000joscottcoehttp://joscottcoe.com/?p=446Posted in buzz,interview,podcastEpisode Four, “Mothers and the Others, ” now available on iTunes and on this site. What does a happily married woman with no kids have in common with a happily married mother of three–who’s now expecting her fourth child? More than you might think. Drop your stereotypes and listen as Jo chats with Lindsey Frandsen, […]

Episode Four, “Mothers and the Others, ” now available on iTunes and on this site.

What does a happily married woman with no kids have in common with a happily married mother of three–who’s now expecting her fourth child? More than you might think. Drop your stereotypes and listen as Jo chats with Lindsey Frandsen, founder of Thinking Moms in Riverside, California.

]]>http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/11/20/writer-ninja-podcast-episode-four/feed/3Creative Tools–from Barry Michels and Phil Stutzhttp://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/09/26/creative-tools-from-barry-michels-and-phil-stutz/
http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/09/26/creative-tools-from-barry-michels-and-phil-stutz/#commentsMon, 26 Sep 2011 15:10:52 +0000joscottcoehttp://joscottcoe.com/?p=436Posted in buzz,creative,podcast,writingAs promised on Writer Ninja Podcast Episode Three, here’s a thought-provoking set of insightful tools for thinking about that “block” you keep having. Maybe you’re clinging to it! Let go! The toolkit appeared online in early 2011 in the New Yorker. Therapists Michels and Stutz have been getting a lot of media play recently for […]

As promised on Writer Ninja Podcast Episode Three, here’s a thought-provoking set of insightful tools for thinking about that “block” you keep having. Maybe you’re clinging to it! Let go!

The toolkit appeared online in early 2011 in the New Yorker. Therapists Michels and Stutz have been getting a lot of media play recently for their work with helping creative folks get back on the wagon of writing/producing/acting/developing.

]]>http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/09/26/creative-tools-from-barry-michels-and-phil-stutz/feed/2You know you’re on the Z-List when…http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/09/26/you-youre-on-the-z-list-when/
http://joscottcoe.com/blog/2011/09/26/you-youre-on-the-z-list-when/#commentsMon, 26 Sep 2011 04:30:41 +0000joscottcoehttp://joscottcoe.com/?p=430Posted in UncategorizedWorking writers and artists share their commiserations about life on the Z-list. Jo sent out a call for funny, snarky, and sometimes sad stories. Each contributor finished this sentence: You know you’re on the Z-list when… Susan Straight‘s latest novel is Take One Candle Light a Room. “When you finish your reading at the ________ […]

Working writers and artists share their commiserations about life on the Z-list. Jo sent out a call for funny, snarky, and sometimes sad stories.

Each contributor finished this sentence: You know you’re on the Z-list when…

Susan Straight‘s latest novel is Take One Candle Light a Room. “When you finish your reading at the ________ Public Library and find out your overnight accommodations are in the librarian’s house, in the bedroom of her son gone off to college, and the wallpaper has baseballs and bats, which make you miss having a brother.”

Orville Stoeber, Venice musician, “found” object sculptor, and performer. He most recently composed, arranged, and performed the soundtrack for Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Year of the Flood. “There is a fine line between funk and bleached cat shit,” he says. “I’ve been on the Z list for so long, I didn’t know there was another list. My first review in New York was ‘the music by Orville Stoeber is lousy.’ That was Variety 1969, the Ronald Tavel play, Boy On The Straight Back Chair.”

Long Beach poet Clint Margrave has recent or forthcoming work in The New York Quarterly, Ambit, 3AM, Pearl, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, among others, as well as in the recent anthology Beside The City of Angels: An Anthology of Long Beach Poetry (World Parade Books). “You know you’re on the Z-list when you work in the bookstore you’re reading at.”

Judy Kronenfeld‘s third book of poetry, Shimmer (Word Tech Editions), will ripple into the poetry world in early 2012. “You know you’re on the Z-list when your poetry reading audience is 80% people you know plus a clutch of winos who wanted in from the cold.”

Cati Porter is the editor of Poemeleon and the author of several poetry collections that don’t suck. “You know you’re on the Z-list when you’re giving a poetry reading and someone in the audience begins to snore.”

What music, art, or artists inspire you as a writer? as a thinker? as a human being? Who–or what–gets your imagination unstuck? What is the “Z-list” (whatever your field of expertise!)–and how can you claim your zen there? Check out Epidode Three of the Writer Ninja Podcast on iTunes or here at the site. Jo […]

What music, art, or artists inspire you as a writer? as a thinker? as a human being? Who–or what–gets your imagination unstuck?

What is the “Z-list” (whatever your field of expertise!)–and how can you claim your zen there?

Check out Epidode Three of the Writer Ninja Podcast on iTunes or here at the site.

Jo shares some of her creative influences–with a special thank you to John Cusack–and invites you to name your own names. You’ll also hear Jo talk about the Z-List with author and publisher Chiwan Choi and share info about a great tool kit from creativity gurus Barry Michels and Phil Stutz.

[Special bonus: thoughts on creative freedom from the German alter-ego of novelist Stephanie Hammer.]